Barack Obama Calls For Every American To Get Vaccine, ‘Particularly African-Americans and Latinos’

Former President Barack Obama joined “Inside the NBA” analysts Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal to urge Americans to get the Covid-19 vaccine.  

“I appreciate you guys doing this,” Obama said. “Part of our goal here is to make sure that everybody who’s been going through so much in COVID understands the need and the urgency of our communities getting vaccinated.” 

Charles and @Shaq agree: we can all help end this pandemic by getting the COVID-19 vaccine. It’s the only way to keep everyone safe and help us get back to all the things we miss most—from seeing family and friends to watching sports in person. pic.twitter.com/y2DlprGPds

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 18, 2021

As has been the case with much of the messaging from Democrats when it comes to vaccine distribution, race was a talking point. 

“I want to make sure that our communities — particularly African American, Latino, as well as young people — understand that this will save lives and allow people to get their lives back to normal. And the sooner we get people vaccinated, the better off we’re going to be.” 

Barkley responded by noting how it’s “important for us to keep talking about the vaccine,” and to not worry about past events — such as the Tuskegee experiment — when considering getting vaccinated. 

“So I’m telling all my friends,” Barkley continued. “Yo, man. Forget what happened back in the day. Every Black person, please go out and get vaccinated.”

It’s not the first time the TNT crew has dived into political waters. 

In September, both Barkley and O’Neal pushed back on the outrage and riots that stemmed over the death of Breonna Taylor. 

“It’s bad the young lady lost her life, but, you know, we do have to take into account that her boyfriend did shoot at the cops and shot a cop,” Barkley said. “So, like I said, even though I’m really sorry she lost her life, I don’t think that we can just say we can put this in the same situation with George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, I just don’t believe that.”

O’Neal, who became a part-time police officer in Florida after his retirement from the NBA, agreed with Barkley and spoke from the law enforcement side of the conversation. 

“I have to agree with Charles, this one is sort of lumped in,” O’Neal said. “You have to get a warrant signed and some states do allow no-knock warrants. And everyone was asking for murder charges. When you talk about murder, you have to show intent. A homicide occurred and we’re sorry a homicide occurred. When you have a warrant signed by the judge, you are doing your job, and I would imagine that you would fire back.”

Most recently, Barkley made headlines during March Madness when he questioned the motives of politicians. 

“Man, I think most white people and Black people are great people,” Barkley said. “I really believe that in my heart, but I think our system is set up where our politicians, whether they’re Republicans or Democrats, are designed to make us not like each other so they can keep their grasp of money and power. They divide and conquer.”

“I truly believe in my heart most white people and Black people are awesome people,” Barkley continued, “but we’re so stupid following our politicians, whether they’re Republicans or Democrats, and their only job is, ‘Hey, let’s make these people not like each other. We don’t live in their neighborhoods, we all got money, let’s make the whites and Blacks not like each other, let’s make rich people and poor people not like each other, let’s scramble the middle class.’ I truly believe that in my heart.”

As was the case with mask wearing, Democrats have pushed the vaccines as an essential measure in order for Americans to get back to their normal lives. While roughly 25.4% of the population has been fully vaccinated, experts estimate that somewhere between 70-85% of the country needs to be immune to the virus in order for herd immunity to be achieved. 

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